:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46398326/usa-today-8446713.0.jpg)
With the NBA Draft just a month away, NBA teams are hosting dozens of players for pre-draft workouts. The Los Angeles Lakers announced on Tuesday that they had T.J. McConnell (among others) in for a workout:
Working out in El Segundo today: T.J. McConnell Bryce Dejean-Jones Kevin Pangos Dez Wells Seth Tuttle Maurice Walker
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 26, 2015
It appears he'll get to matchup with Kevin Pangos one more time.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">2 teams - Tuttle, McConnell, Wells on one team - Walker, Dejean-Jones and Pangos on other - we're just seeing shooting drills</p>— Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) <a href="https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/603271113766936576">May 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The Lakers have picks #2, #27, and #34, but it's extremely unlikely that McConnell will be selected with one of those. Every single mock draft I've seen has T.J. going undrafted.
T.J.'s road to the NBA is to impress during workouts like these, latch onto a Summer League team (likely to happen), and then perform at a high level during Summer League. If he can do that, he'll have a great shot to land a training camp invite and then subsequently he'd have to impress a team once again to make the final roster.
Frankly, I have a hard time seeing T.J. not getting a training camp invite, whether it be from the Lakers or another NBA team. He's a player that coaches love because of his unselfishness and intensity, not to mention he's a pretty skilled player.
Here are some images of his workout today: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">To all the U of A fans, T.J. McCconnell (<a href="https://twitter.com/iPass4Zona">@iPass4Zona</a>) getting jump shots up in the Lakers facility <a href="http://t.co/tXaKNuj5TZ">pic.twitter.com/tXaKNuj5TZ</a></p>— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) <a href="https://twitter.com/SerenaWinters/status/603271326262890496">May 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/iPass4Zona">@iPass4Zona</a> getting some jumpers up at the end of his Laker workout... <a href="http://t.co/B5FkPtNd7C">pic.twitter.com/B5FkPtNd7C</a></p>— Dave Miller (@coachdavemiller) <a href="https://twitter.com/coachdavemiller/status/603270980518039553">May 26, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>